New E-reader?

[DrChiper]

I have just the Kobo Aura HD, so cannot check
Besides, as I do not use it myself regularly, I did not field tested it.
On the Sony I had once that raindrops caused a spontaneous page refresh.
The most problems however I had with flies: scrolling pages and pages

[ChrisCs]

Hi,

First, I wanted to thank everyone for the suggestions, they were helpful in steering me to a decision.

Kobo was offering a refurbished Glo e-reader on their website which looked like a good way to test one out without spending too much money.

Unfortunately, when I tried to order one, the order came back as transaction declined on my credit card. I checked my bank, and I have 2 pending transactions from Kobo on my card and no new e-reader.

Their customer support lived up what I had read on other posts in the forums: awful. While they have phone support 7 days a week, the department which can deal with this stuff is only open Monday - Friday, 9 am to 5 pm.

Plan B looks like it will be trying out a Kindle in a real store.

Chris

[HarryT]

I doubt that the "payment declined" issue has anything to do with Kobo. Kobo are in Canada, and if you don't routinely make international purchases on your credit card, your bank would very likely have flagged it as a suspicious transaction and put a hold on it.

You really need to talk to your bank about it, not Kobo.

[faithbw]

Originally Posted by HarryT

I doubt that the "payment declined" issue has anything to do with Kobo. Kobo are in Canada, and if you don't routinely make international purchases on your credit card, your bank would very likely have flagged it as a suspicious transaction and put a hold on it.

You really need to talk to your bank about it, not Kobo.

This. This happened to me when I tried to make a donation to an international charity using my debit card. I would contact your bank.

[ChrisCs]

Hi,

Thanks again for the suggestions, I did hear back from the Kobo Direct Orders Department, there is a problem on the web site with reader orders than is preventing orders from being processed. It doesn't affect everyone, but for those it affects they do not have a definite solution or an ETA on a fix.

They did suggest was to try either a different browser, a different email address, or a different computer, but those didn't always work. I'm working up the nerve to try one of those.

The card I used is the same one I use for book purchases from Kobo, the last one less than a week ago. I also use it with other international purchases without problems.

I'm thinking this is life trying to teach me patience.

Chris

[AnemicOak]

They've had the same or similar problems, for some buyers, going back at least to the launch of the Aura HD.

[barryem]

Originally Posted by cybmole

i guess I must be one of the few who has trouble telling the difference - the number of timed I've asked google what type of screen my [insert owned device name here] has, is ridiculous

I've had and used both IR and capacitive touch screen ereaders and one day, maybe 2 years ago after reading someone's complaints about their IR ereader, perhaps it was Harry T but I don't actually remember, I spent about 20 minutes comparing them. I think I could tell the difference but I wasn't really sure and now I don't recall what seemed a little different. One thing I do remember is that I didn't find any difference that mattered. Both worked just fine. I regularly used both and never noticed any differences.

I still have a Kobo Mini (actually 2 of them now) that I use from time to time. I've never had any issues with the touch screen but I really didn't know which type it was. I just checked and sure enough it's IR. Obviously any differences in touch didn't get my attention.

Sometimes there are differences that really don't matter. I'm currently reading with a Kindle Voyage and I still have my Paperwhite. I really love the screen on the Voyage. When I was using the Paperwhite I felt the same about it. Actually going back and forth between them I never notice any real difference. They both look great.

When I put them side by side and actually compare the Paperwhite looks better, and more than a little better. It's warmer in color and seems more opaque. But while reading I simply can't tell the difference.

It's pretty easy to get hung up on small things and turn them into big things. I do that at times and so do most people. Most of the time I manage not to let that get out of control. Reading these and other forums I find a few people who love one ereader and hate the other. Kobo is wonderful and grand and perfect in every way and Kindle is a poor second rate device sold by rip-off artists. Or the other way around. Both platforms have their devout followers. I have both. I like both. I have a pretty strong preference for the Kindle but that's just me. I can easily see why others prefer the Kobo. If I only had a Kobo I'd be perfectly happy with it.

I guess to those who love a platform or a touch screen type and hate the other that makes me an athiest. So be it.

Barry

[meeera]

Originally Posted by barryem

It's pretty easy to get hung up on small things and turn them into big things.

Individual needs are in there too. If I were reading a whole lot of nonfiction with heaps of footnotes, I imagine difficulty tapping them might seem like a huge deal. I read almost entirely novels in my Kobo, so I'm pretty much completely unbothered by footnote handling.

Calibre-managed collections and reasonable typography and fine font/display adjustment, on the other hand, is a huge deal to me. (And yes, I have thrown paper books against the wall for bad faillings in this regard.) There are others who are perfectly happy to always read Caecilia in the default size in Kindle default layout and also never think much about collections, and for them the Kindle is a perfect device.

[eschwartz]

I just want to say on the collections front, it makes a big difference to own a Kindle that can have collections managed by calibre -- as I can attest. I happen to like collections a lot.

I don't plan to switch out my (jailbroken) Kindle Touch anytime soon.

[MartyTX]

Originally Posted by ChrisCs

... concern about using the iDevice late at night ...

Until you get a new device, set up this Marvin Theme for nighttime viewing and see if you find the inverse colors easier on your eyes:

TEXT: Light ePaper
PAPER: Black

Experiment with the overall screen brightness and font size to find a comfortable nighttime setup.

For my old eyes, the inverse colors and low overall brightness (25%-30%) let me get through a few more chapters each night!

[ChrisCs]

I wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions and advice.

I bought a Kobo Glo HD and I'm very pleased with it so far.

The screen is much more responsive than my last eReader (a Sony PRS-650), the light works amazingly well and I'm only using it around a 20% setting.

The touch screen is very responsive, maybe too responsive (as people have commented), but I'm getting used to it.

The support in Calibre, especially with the Kobo Utilities plug-in, is working wonderfully well.

I was a little concerned about the lack of a memory card slot but so far I can fit plenty of books on it, and I have enough technical skills I could try to swap out the SD card if I ever need to.



Chris

[eschwartz]

Good to hear you're enjoying your new ereader.